An Unexpected Haven

Masters of persuasion like William Phelps are well versed in the values and sensibilitiesof men and women- they know that transcending logic and reason, emotions ultimately constitutedecisions. William Lyon Phelps was an author and scholar at Yale University during the time thatGerman Nazis began systematically burning books that challenged their ideals. His speech, ThePleasure of Books, touches his audiences emotions by contrasting books and people, presentingliterature as the higher source of comfort and reliance. By associating books with commonemotional desires- a sense of belonging, familiarity, and constancy- he places literatures powerabove that of human companionship, forcing his audience to question who and what they rely on.Phelps uses the image of a home to illustrate the ability books have to create a warm, safeenvironment. Whether the house becomes a home depends on the relationship between ownerand book. An unappreciated book is like a guest in the house; it must be treated withpunctiliousness, with a certain sense of formality. Phelps associates this with the image ofbookshelves with doors, glass windows, and keys, rather than open and inviting shelves. Incontrast, when one takes pride in the ownership of books and keeps them accessible, it is likebeing surrounded with intimate friends rather than guests. He paints a beautiful picture of ahome decorated with books, lit by firelight, adorned with separate colors, designs, andpersonalities. The contrast between house and home, guest and friend, sheds a unique light onliterature. His audience no longer views books as objects, but as a source of comfort andfriendship.The familiarity between book and owner can lead to self-discovery if one takes pride inthe ownership of it. Conversely, if a book is treated as borrowed, you cannot mark it, cannotturn down the pages you are afraid to place [it] on the table, wide open and face down.Nothing can be discovered if a relationship isnt developed, just as a friend cannot be made if allconversations are detached and formal. Treating books with affectionate intimacy, brutalizingthe pages you love most, turning down corners, and filling margins is the best way to achievefamiliarity that will result in not only a friend, but an ageless source of reliability. Phelpscompares it to visiting a forest where you once blazed a trail and recalling both theintellectual scenery and your own earlier self. Unlike people, no matter how intimate, onlybooks can reflect ones character, soul, and development, all available at the turn of a page.

Book friends, as Phelps puts it, are the immortal part of history. He admits that inmany ways, books cant compare to living, breathing, corporeal mean and women, butemphasizes the timelessness of literature by mentioning Socrates, Shakespeare, Dumas, andDickens, all ageless, beloved writers on which it depends. Friends and acquaintances, we cannotalways see them. Perchance they are asleep, or away on a journey. But these writers will alwaysbe on your shelf, the pages of their words representing their ultimate best self, and waiting for areader to find themselves in. The great dead are beyond our physical reach, and the great livingare almost as inaccessible. But referring to great writers and philosophers, Phelps declares that,They wrote for you, solidifying the emotional connection between his audience and theunswerving books they read.In his time of political and social chaos, Phelps recognized the necessity of booksbecause they provide a home, a familiar and reliable source, and unbroken loyalty. His purpose,to illuminate one of the greatest resources of mankind, is achieved by illustrating people asimperfect and inconsistent compared to books- inanimate, yet infinitely important objects thatbring complete assurance and hope.